Gérard Depardieu's wounded soul

Article by Muriel Frat published in Le Figaro on 27 July 2009, on the occasion of the broadcast of the documentary “Un jour, un destin” devoted to Gérard Depardieu. It recalls the episode in which the young actor, sent by the director Jean-Laurent Cochet to Professor Tomatis to treat his speech problems, reportedly came out transformed.

Le Figaro — 27 July 2009 (TV listings)

Gérard Depardieu’s wounded soul

“Un jour, un destin” — The actor’s elder brother and his friends paint the portrait of a complex man, deeply marked by his childhood.

It is a sacred monster of French cinema that Laurent Delahousse takes on this evening in the programme “Un jour, un destin”. An immense actor, but also a fragile man whose childhood wounds have never fully healed. The portrait drawn this evening is built on first-hand testimonies, from those close to the actor, such as his elder brother and childhood friends from Châteauroux.

“Laurent Delahousse did a great deal of work convincing Gérard Depardieu not to urge those close to him to refuse to speak,” explains Benoît Bertrand-Cadi, the director of the documentary. “A few years ago, Capa had tried to make a film about him, but he had forbidden his friends to speak out. Contrary to what people think, he is very attentive to his image, he keeps an eye on everything that is broadcast about him.”

Devoted to his early years in Châteauroux, in a modest family — his father a labourer, his mother a housewife —, the first part of the documentary lays the foundations of Gérard Depardieu’s whole life. Alain, his elder brother, depicts an alcoholic father and memorable rows between husband and wife. When he was about ten years old, Gérard’s mother reportedly confided to him that he was not a wanted child. It is to that moment that this crack, which would influence his whole life, would go back.

A rebellious young thug

A turbulent life that resembles, in adolescence, that of the character Jean-Claude he played in the film Les Valseuses. The outings in bars, the brawling, all sorts of trafficking with the American base at Châteauroux, the consorting with prostitutes — Gérard Depardieu had everything it took to become a provincial gang boss. But the death of his best friend in a car accident was to change the course of his destiny. He took to the road, took on all kinds of odd jobs. And washed up in Paris, where he met up again with friends taking classes at the Théâtre Édouard-VII. His first audition was a stinging failure; he stammered, stumbled over every word. Despite everything, the director Jean-Laurent Cochet believed in him and sent him to have his speech problems treated by Professor Tomatis, who had developed a method using sophisticated devices.

Valérie Drouot, head of the Tomatis centre, reports that Gérard Depardieu “was completely blocked at the vocal level. He did not stammer strictly speaking, but he had problems with fluency.” The rebellious young thug came out transformed. His memory developed, his vocabulary enriched. He acted alongside Gabin in L’Affaire Dominici, married a girl from the well-to-do bourgeoisie, started a family. But neither love nor glory would manage to erase the scars of childhood.

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